Itâ??s now an established scientific fact: Smut is GOOD for you. Corn smut, that is. For years, scientists have assumed that huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE) — a gnarly, gray-black corn fungus long-savored in Mexico — had nutritional values similar to those of the corn on which it grew. But test results just published in the journal Food Chemistry reveal that an infection that U.S. farmers and crop scientists have spent millions trying to eradicate, is packed with unique proteins, minerals and other nutritional goodies. Researchers at University of Wisconsin convinced a local organic farmer in 2007 to deliberately infect a field of corn with the fungus, and then harvest and sell it.
Office of Strategic Communication